Channel 4 to Launch E4 on Freeview
E4 is to go free to air - as long as you have Freeview anyway. Don't go expecting to start getting it for nowt if you have satellite. And when it launches at the end of May, it will be joined by E4+1 - Freeview's first time shifted channel.
As an announcement, not unexpected - the Channel 4 powers that be have been talking about it for some time. The only real surprise is that it's happened so quickly - previously an autumn launch had been discussed. It also leaves E4 with a better chance to steal the crown of most watched digital channel - the holder currently being ITV2.
What it does do is leave a great big question mark hanging over Top Up TV - the pay TV service that sits alongside Freeview.
With no Sky One in its line up, E4 was, without a doubt, the jewel in Top Up's crown - one of the 'must-have' channels. Top Up's subscription figures have, so far, been reasonable enough, but at £7.99 and their biggest channel about to pull out, there's a serious question of whether they can keep that momentum. Bar Sky One, is there really any pay-TV channel that has that 'must-have' cachet, the sellability that E4 has?
The future will be an interesting one.
